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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22668619">is it still light outside</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CampionSayn/pseuds/CampionSayn'>CampionSayn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>February Prompts 2020 [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chat is not having a good time, Mari has an Army, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Multi, Nooroo finally gets satisfaction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:35:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,599</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22668619</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CampionSayn/pseuds/CampionSayn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hawk Moth gets the Ladybug Miraculous and a mind-controlled Chat Blanc, but Mari gets the Butterfly Miraculous on the way down.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir &amp; Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>February Prompts 2020 [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1621750</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>is it still light outside</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hawk Moth caught her by surprise while on the waterfront, on some barge during a class trip to see some marine study center of all places.<br/>
<br/>
He'd gotten to Chat, all in white with those terrifying blank blue eyes and too sharp claws.<br/>
<br/>
Out in the middle of the water, it was really amazing she'd lasted in the fight as long as she had before she'd taken a hit to the back of the head; not from Chat, but from Hawk Moth himself, finally including himself in his own plans.<br/>
<br/>
She had been only vaguely aware of clutching at his arm and the front of his suit when he'd lifted her by the throat like a ragdoll, still dizzy, her classmates and teacher screaming in horror as Chat Blanc literally ripped her earrings out--skin tearing in twin notches of blood and tissue.<br/>
<br/>
If that hadn't been enough, Hawk Moth had taken the opportunity to punch her while still holding her up, knocking all the air out of her.<br/>
<br/>
Before tossing her into the tide; Marinette herself without the protection of the Ladybug suit and Miraculous, briefly catching sight of Chat's shocked face and her classmates--Alya and Nino above the rest--calling out to her as she descended.<br/>
<br/>
Luckily, she had enough sense to keep her hand tight around the pin she'd felt and clutched instinctively while being choked.<br/>
<br/>
She'd hit the water, still holding tight.<br/>
<br/>
--<br/>
<br/>
The awareness of the pain was what woke her up from the drowning, ribs tight and uncomfortable, Chat's claw marks stinging with freezing cold water from the Seine, the rest of her soaked through.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, my god, Mari! Mari, fuck, are you okay?!"<br/>
<br/>
The voice registered, but only just as she turned over and heaved water and vomit, almost hitting the shoes and knees of a couple of the people hovering around her; Nath and Juleka fast as rabbits getting out of the way as she choked up more an more, a pair of hands holding her loose hair out of her face until she stopped gagging.<br/>
<br/>
Hot tears had cut through the cold water of her face, the her actions having reminded her that Hawk Moth had likely broken a rib or two, but all she could do was curl up before looking over to find Alya and every member of their class also soaking wet.<br/>
<br/>
Of course they had jumped in after her. Even Chloe and Sabrina.<br/>
<br/>
"S-Sorry. I'm sorry," she finally spoke, scratchy and barely there as the reality of the situation hit her, but more like bracing shock and disappointment in herself, rather than the all the alternatives she thought she'd feel if the day came when they knew who she was.<br/>
<br/>
"There's nothing to be sorry for," Nino said as Alya hugged her, crying herself with how terrified she'd been, "You did the best you could."<br/>
<br/>
She did. <br/>
<br/>
She realized she was holding, tight in her first like the Holy Grail, the Butterfly Miraculous.<br/>
<br/>
"...Hello?"<br/>
<br/>
--<br/>
<br/>
It really shouldn't have been a surprise that there was nothing little Nooroo, sad and exhausted in the face of the reality of Hawk Moth having gotten what he'd wanted, could do in regards to Mari getting the Ladybug Miraculous back.<br/>
<br/>
What had been a surprise was the way he looked around at her friends and teacher, giving a small smile back at her when he met her eyes, "<em>I</em> can't do anything, but <em>you</em> can."<br/>
<br/>
The answer, and the way he said it, told her all she really needed to know. Remembering that Nooroo was the Kwami of Transmission or Transference or whatever it meant to give something to another so they could both get what they wanted.<br/>
<br/>
It felt wrong to use another Kwami and Miraculous that wasn't Tikki, but as Nooroo put it, "If you succeed, you'll get her back. And Chat Noir."<br/>
<br/>
That did it.<br/>
<br/>
--<br/>
<br/>
Before anything else, Mari needed permission from Master Fu, who had been more than happy to give the Bee, Turtle, Fox and Snake Miraculous back to Chloe, Nino, Alya and Luka (<em>who had been called in by Juleka when Mari asked her</em>); then she felt like it was needed to be absolutely sure that the other who had been there wanted to help.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'"You're</em> not a crazy psycho trying to use us for your own gain," Alix stated rather bluntly as Mari hesitated to use the Butterfly Miraculous, the others with their own Kwami having already transformed and ready to go once Mari transformed her classmates and teacher, all having volunteered to be Champions if it would stop Hawk Moth and potentially save Paris from whatever he was intending.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, and the little guy said that we'll know our minds minds this time around," Kim tacked on, smile reaching his eyes as they landed on Nooroo still positively inhaling the honey, sugared tea and the leftover cookies from Marinette's purse, "We'll actually be able to tell you if we need to change course."<br/>
<br/>
"And help you in our own ways, rather than taking all our cues from you," Miss Bustier said, "You aren't going to do this alone, Marinette. We're right beside you."<br/>
<br/>
--<br/>
<br/>
As it turned out, the man behind the mask that had been tormenting Paris for what seemed like years, was poor Adrien's father trying to raise his dead wife from the dead.<br/>
<br/>
Dead and kept in his basement in a glass box like some twisted, toxic fairy story.<br/>
<br/>
Marinette and the others could have almost understood that, if they hadn't found out from The Gorilla that it was Adrien under the Cat Miraculous (he was hired muscle who had protected the boy for years, "I'm quiet, not <strong>stupid</strong>,") and his father was literally controlling him to do something Nooroo had told him repeatedly could destroy the fabric of reality, "Miraculous, even as powerful as Cat and Ladybug, can only do so much."<br/>
<br/>
When Mari, her fellow Heroes and the rest approached the Agreste Mansion, there had been a pillar of black and red light rising out of it, like congealed netherworld smoke and fire. <br/>
<br/>
The sky had turned like the ocean in a storm, rumbling clouds mimicking hungry dragons.<br/>
<br/>
Paris was burning, so Mari had called for all the more help that any were willing to give. <br/>
<br/>
But not before she'd transformed.<br/>
<br/>
The Incantation to the broach, thankfully, was less insidious than Gabriel Agreste had made it seem.<br/>
<br/>
"Wings Rise," Nooroo had grinned, belly full and a little more color in him as he felt Marinette's aura interact with his Miraculous, "<em>Not</em> Dark Wings Rise. Then you call on your Champions and act as General from a distance."<br/>
<br/>
"Yes to all of that, except the last one."<br/>
<br/>
"But, there's nothing you can do for yourself when I'm in use! We're not meant for confrontation; we're vulnerable."<br/>
<br/>
Marinette stood firm as she looked at Nooroo and then looked upon all the people willing to help her already, "I cannot and will not send them into danger while I stay safe and do nothing. I got them into this, I'll be there to get them out."<br/>
<br/>
Nooroo said nothing for a heartbeat, fluttering before her, until he gave what felt like the biggest smile he'd ever given, "Oh, Tikki is lucky to have you. You're so much more than that bastard ever was."<br/>
<br/>
A better compliment coming from him.<br/>
<br/>
--<br/>
<br/>
"Hm, I think you looked better in red and black, but this is nice, too," Nath complimented, not quite the Evillustrator in Mari's Champion form she'd chosen for him, but something much more powerful and SO MUCH better to look at.<br/>
<br/>
A thing they all agreed on when Marinette transformed herself and then imbued them with Champion abilities was that she had much more classy designs for them than Hawk Moth <em>(who was Gabriel Fucking Agreste; what the actual fuck was he thinking with his Akumatized designs)</em>.<br/>
<br/>
And better still, Mari had insisted they go into the battle in twos and threes and engineered them to compliment their partners's abilities AS WELL as aesthetic design.<br/>
<br/>
She had really done a bang up job with all of the people from her class, as well as the other people in Paris that had answered the call when she sent out her white butterflies asking for help without any darkness in heart or purpose.<br/>
<br/>
Mari smiled in appreciation at Nath, humoring Marc as he motioned for her to give a small spin so they could remember the look later--it would look <em><strong>so</strong> good</em> in their comic, please?<br/>
<br/>
Lilac stirrup leggings, white boots, a lilac jacket much like the ring leader at the circus, the Miraculous pinned to the collar, and a plain ivory domino mask that matched the kid gloves tight against her hands.<br/>
<br/>
It wasn't flashy, she could move in it, it was durable. That was all she needed and Nooroo provided.<br/>
<br/>
Admittedly, there was some decorative sewing along the jacket so that she looked a bit like she was wearing the leavings of a fine silk cocoon, but that was about all she could afford for the sake of vanity.<br/>
<br/>
She was glad everyone else was pleased with their new designs (especially those that had the most unnatural and unflattering once before) but her heart wasn't as into it as it would be under any other circumstance.<br/>
<br/>
"Are you ready?" She asked, loud enough for everyone to hear her, even without the link the Miraculous gave her to them.<br/>
<br/>
The resounding cheer and roar of the crowd was all the answer she needed.<br/>
<br/>
It was time to save the prince from his tower.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am so behind, which is why this is so short. Hopefully I can grow a spine and come back to it, but this is just a vague outline of something I wanted to do.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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